House Of Representatives Commission X Highlights 44 Percent Of Education Budget Diverted To MBG Program: This Must Be Reviewed

JAKARTA - Member of Commission X DPR RI, Furtasan Ali Yusuf appreciated the government's commitment to safeguarding the allocation for education by 20 percent of the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) as mandated by the constitution.

However, he also highlighted the transfer of education budgets of up to 44 percent for the financing of the Free Nutrition Food Program (MBG).

"In general, we are happy because the education budget posture is in accordance with the constitution. But after being analyzed, about 40 percent more turned out to be allocated to MBG. The question is, is this really in the category of education funds or not?" he asked, quoted in an official statement, Tuesday, August 19.

Although the target of the MBG program is students, the NasDem Party faction legislator assesses that further studies are needed whether the program deserves to be categorized as an education budget.

He ensured that Commission X and the government would discuss in more detail the allocation of these funds in a follow-up meeting. "If the target is clear to the children at school, of course it is still in the category of education. But if not, this must be reviewed," said Furtasan.

Furtasan added that the 2026 education budget has been divided into a number of priority programs, including teacher allowances and lecturers, education revitalization, and scholarship programs.

For the Smart Indonesia Program (PIP), the government targets 20 million recipients, while the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) is intended for 1.2 million recipients.

He also responded to President Prabowo Subianto's statement that this year's education budget was the highest in recent years. According to Furtasan, the most important thing is not just the amount of the budget, but the effectiveness of its use.

Previously, the Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, had straightened out the growing issue related to the MBG Program budget of IDR 335 trillion, which is said to have eroded almost half of the education allocation.

According to him, MBG funds not only come from the function of education, but also from health and other budget posts.

"This Nutrition Agency was only given, asked how much money was needed to eat nutrition under such assumptions, I said Rp335 trillion. Where did it come from, it turned out to be included in two functions of one health, one education," he said.

"So the total is IDR 335 trillion, which from its health is approximately between IDR 24 trillion or IDR 27 trillion. So it's not IDR 335 trillion from top education. So IDR 335 trillion is the total we will use," continued Dadan.

Furthermore, Dadan emphasized that the decision regarding the budget allocation policy was entirely in the hands of the President. According to him, President Prabowo Subianto assessed that the relevant MBG program was included in several functions at once, such as education, health, and social.